Concepts
The three pillars
3psLCCA quantifies bridge life cycle impacts across three pillars, all expressed in a common monetary metric so that alternatives can be compared directly:
| Pillar | Captures |
|---|---|
| Economic | Direct financial costs: construction, operation, inspection, maintenance, rehabilitation, hazard-induced repair, decommissioning |
| Environmental | Impacts such as carbon emissions, converted to monetary terms |
| Social | User-related costs, e.g. disruption from lane closures, delays, and detours |
Life cycle stages
A bridge assessment in 3psLCCA is broken down by stage:
- Construction - initial build cost and embodied impacts.
- Operation & inspection - routine monitoring costs over the service life.
- Maintenance - scheduled upkeep.
- Rehabilitation - major interventions to restore performance.
- Hazard-induced repair - repairs following earthquakes or other extreme events.
- Decommissioning - end-of-life removal/disposal.
Regional databases
3psLCCA ships with a default database calibrated for India, covering material, labor, and process costs typical of steel and PSC girder short-span bridges. Users can define project-specific parameters or import a database for another region, and the modular architecture is intended to extend to additional bridge typologies and span ranges over time.